Two youth were arrested for allegedly lobbing mobile phones, phone chargers and liquor bottles into the premises of Kalapet Central Prison here on Tuesday.
According to Superintendent of Police (North) S Ramaraj, prison officials had found a tightly packed parcel on the prison premises on Monday. On examination, the parcel was found to contain eight mobile phones, 12 chargers and four bottles of liquor. Police found that a total of six liquor bottles were thrown, out of which two broke. In subsequent investigations using the mobile phones, police were able to trace the shop from where they were purchased.
Following enquiries with shop staff, the police were able to track Arnold Raja (20) of Reddiarpalayam, who had purchased the devices. He led police to his accomplice Manigandan (19) of Bhoomiyanpet. During interrogation, the duo revealed that they used to lob packets, including mobile phones, over the walls of the prison at night, which were picked up by inmates.
After being arrested, the duo were remanded in judicial custody on Monday even as police were continuing investigations.
There have been incidents in the recent past when hardened criminals lodged at Kalapet have been able to run extortion networks and issue threats using mobile phones delivered in a similar manner. While police have been able to crack some such cases, they have not been able to plug all routes by which devices reach prison inmates.